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Biceps 101 Welcome to the gun show!

Wikapedia defines it as: in human anatomy, the biceps brachii, or simply biceps in common parlance, is, as the name implies, a two-headed muscle. The biceps lie on the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Both heads arise on the scapula and join to form a single muscle belly which is attached to the upper forearm. While the biceps cross both the shoulder and elbow joints, its main function is at the latter where it flexes the elbow and supinates the forearm. The biceps like chest are considered “beach muscles”. Meaning its usually one of the first noticeable muscle groups when parading around the beach. Second only to the chest, the biceps are the next most trained muscle. Some guys overt train biceps to death but that’s a whole different article. Biceps for men and women are a vital muscle to create a balanced upper body. Guys tend to want big arms while women will work for a toner, tight, sexier look. Either way training the bi’s are pretty much the same for both sexes just a difference in weight used.

Training

Training biceps are no different than any other muscle, you must come at them from all angles. Guys will blast biceps with a straight bar curl, dumbbells and a cable routine. The whole time hand position never changing. So basically you have done 12 sets of the same exercise just different tools. And ladies will do a machine curl, cable curl and whatever dumbbell curl they can attempt through all the meatheads hanging out in front of the rack. I see so many people training biceps wrong wondering why their arms aren’t getting any better. Here’s a quick tip; when training biceps it is very important to keep your elbows by your side and pointed at the floor. When you roll your arms forward your delts kick in to help with the lift. So isolate the bicep properly and you will see progress. Here is a sample routine for guys and girls to sculpt those guns. Always do a light warm up get the joints, tendons and ligaments warm and ready to be stressed out. Then the heaviest exercises first followed by shaping and secondary moves. Here’s what I do, I know it could help you build better arms too.

Barbell curls 5 sets 8-10 /. Ladies 5 sets 10-15
Dumbbell curls (palms up) 4 sets 8-10./ Ladies 4 sets 10-15
Seated Dumbbell curl (palms up) 4 sets 8-10 / Ladies 4 sets 10-15
EZ curl bar Preacher (inside grip) 4 sets 8-10 / Ladies 4 sets 10-15
Cable Scott curl (elbows tucked, palms down) 3 sets 8-10 / Ladies 3 sets 10-15
This is a good start for any lifter or experienced lifter looking to change it up. Play with the weight and rep count but be consistent and don’t over train. Remember tearing fibers and overloading happens at the gym. Growth happens with rest and diet. There are few muscles that get the attention of biceps, so if you’re going to train, train right. Do your homework and learn what exercises do what. And in no time at all it will be sleeveless Mon, Wed and Fri at the office. Talking about “oh these old things”…….